Dodge City times. [volume], September 08, 1877, Image 2

About Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892

Image provided by: Kansas State Historical Society; Topeka, KS

                
THE TIMES.
W. C. SHIRK, Pnhliiher.
DOD(;ECITY, - - KANSAS.
THE MAS FBOJT DEAD WOOD.
Inrldrnt of IJfoln Hi Illnrk If ilia How
tli OvrrInnl Conrhrft r IUlbrd An
Kitrn.lie Conspiracy Funereal Wit
llniicli n the lltlimn-A Thrilllnc Mo-17-
.
(I-TOIII IUOCW lurk IM-ruiu.J
Piiilaukm'HIa, Anjrust 12, 1877. A
man from Deadwood Citr, the great
metropolis of the HlacK lltlls, pas-cu
through here the other day. Ho has
just juit driving the overland stage to
Deailwoou, winch place lie cmpuaucai
lv iirououncci the most diabolical town
on earth, and Levond question the wick
edest spot tbis side of the infernal re
gions. He has come back to " God's
country," as he calls the East, to get a
littlo money that has been left him, and
to sec his old home before he goes back
to iret some more holes shot through
-him, as he puis it. The man from pcad-
woou i? one ox ino fiuaiiu. oniwu
characters that arc essentially Ameri
can, and only found in all their uncon-
ventionaiity in tnc great nest. Aiicr
you have conversed with him five min
utes you wili find him to bo a shrewd,
observing sort oi a man, quick and
keen as a razor, with a dry humor and
a peculiarly expressive vocabulary.rath
cr slangy, itis'tnie.ana at times coarse
and piofanc, but always vividly pictur
esque, apt aud striking.
AN KVENTFL'L HISTOltV.
TIio man from Deadwood has a his
tory. The nephew of one of the richest
anil best known men in Brooklyn and
of ono the Empire State's most distin
guished United States Senators, lie
comes of good stock. Hut ho has always
been a rolling stone, and his fondness
of adventure and change of scene have
taken him nearly all over
the world, into many occupations
and professions, and fully
initiated him into the tips and downs of
a roving life. As a showman he has
traveled through the Xorth and West,
as a soldier in the rebellion he went
through the South, and as a sailor he has
circumnavigated tho globe. His fond
ness for horses kept liim in the circus
business for some years, and lie knows
all tho old showmen, from old Dad
Stickner and John Hobinson to Itamum
and the Hippodrome people, of all of
-i i - :- . 11 ..t 1.1 1111. 1.
wnum lie is mil ui niiwuuiu. iiuumu
circus business he has been engaged in
various capacities, but generally in
chanre of tock, and he is justly proud
of the fact that he is one of the few driv
ers in the business who can successfully
handle a sixtoen-liorse golden circus
chariot with a brass band. lately he
has been roughing it in the West, saw
.i i .: ..t ii-ii.i i:il ..n.l ,l. !...
MIC ftlHKIUlIJI 111 1 11U Hill UUU tllU Hallo
ing of the asassin,and has more recent
ly, as an overland stage driver, experi
enced life in Deadwood City, the new
mining town in the IUaek Hills that lias
already earned the reputation of being
the mot depraved community under the
sun.
In view of tho interest that attaches
to this phase of American border life I
have tried to jot down a portion of what
this man from Deadwood told me about
this typical miningtowu of tho far West.
Itl'tween expectorations of tobacco juice
were the answers to my questions given
by the man from Deadwood, whose
manner of speech had a peculiarly sol
emn drawl that was vcrv odd and amus
ing. KO LAW AMI KO SUNDAY.
" Is Deadwood as rough and lawless
a place as we are told by the Western
newspapers?"
" Worse. I don't know what the pa
pers say of it, but I know it's worse'n
any languago can tell. It's the ornery-
est place this side of . There's no
law an' no Sunday. Every man's his
own court, an' in revolver is lawyer,
judge, jury, an executioner especially
executioner. An' the gamblin', drinkin'
and fightin' goes on all tho time, day
an1 night. You wouldn't know when
Sunday comes around if you didn't put
it uown in a oooK.
est coroner's inquests out there I ever
see. Why, a jury sot on a stiff there
not long ago, and they heard the evi
dence an' found 'that. Bill Jones came
to his death by calling red-headed
Marks a liar?' Marks arrested? Not
much. They darsn't. Another jury
sot on a poor devil who had a difference
of opinion with a notorious rough char
acter, ana altnougu seven oi me jury
men saw the shootin' an' the man what
did it: and notwithstandin' tin:
fellow went around boastin' of
it this jury brought in a
verdict of murder by some person to
us unknown!' Intcrestin', wasn't it?
Tiler's funerals every dav, but most of
'em is nuict like, an' don't go much on
style. But just "fore I kern away a
leadin' citizen died kep' the biggest
s'loon in town a little matter at Keerus'
I b'leeve an' they wanted to give him
a Eood send-off. So thev got three or
four wagons, an' some men an' women
no, thcywa'nt 'zactly ladic was ndnr
in 'eiu'down the street in a procession
like. I was standiu', lookin1 on, when
a feller beside me says to me. Hello,
there's a picnic, ain't it? Cold meat in
the fust wagon!' Do you know that
kinder disgusted me?
II1CII l'KICES.
"Yes; prices pretty high, too. Xoth
in' less'n two bits, an' no soft money.
Drinks istwobits. I went in a drug store
to git a doseo' salts, an' they charged me
four bits (50 cents in silver). 1 says,
'Gum drops, that's an' awful price. In
God's country you kin git a dose for one
bit. Well,' saJs he, 'that's our price
forsalU; but I kin jjivc you a bit's worth
o' anti-appetite pills, an' they'll be
enough to take the edge off a whole
family.'"
' What did ho mean by anti-appetite
pills?" I innocently asked the man from
Deadwood.
" Why, pizen, I s'poso," said he
grimly.
"Any man willin' to work kin git five
or six dollars a day in gold. Workin'
in the mines pays "six dollars a day in
dust reg'ler. Some of 'in gits six dol
lars a day and found found dead in the
ornin'!"
He uttered this ghastly witticism in a
tone even more solemn than usual. He
seemed utterly unconscious how ex
quisitely f unny it was.and when I laugh
ed he looked at me with an injured ex
pression. " Xo, livin' ain't so dear if you mess
together an' cook for vcrselves. You
kin live that way for about six dollars
a week, l reckon, el you aon. get Kill
ed off in the middle o' the week.
" Xo, I never worked in the mines;
I preferred stage-drivin'. I was well
paid. I got a hundred dollars a month
in dust. I have been drivin1 the stage
between Custer City an1 Deadwood. I
have stuck at it for the past three
months, but now I've stoimed."
He paused, but there had been such a
singular emphasis on his last word that
I felt sure there was'souicthing of inter
est to come, so I promptly asked him
why he stopped driving. " Well," said
he, quietly and indifferently, "I'd a
been a dead man in a few hours cf I
hadn't."
Something in his manner told me (bat
he did not care to continue that subject
any furtner.so 1 dropped ltiortne pres
ent, and asked : " Are the stages robbed
very often?"
HOWSTAdKS AUK KOIS11KI).
" Yes; they are nearly always robbed
when they carry treasure, or when any
ot me passengers nave varoics. I lie
stages have an iron box secured to tho
bottom of the inside of the coach, where
gold dust and money ii carried by ex
press; when this box is full the road
agents always know it."
" How can they find out?"
" Why, this robbin' on the overland
stages is a reg'lar business and is done
systematic. It's managed in this way:
The clerks in the banks an' the stores
an' offices in Deadwood or Custer can
easily find out when there is money to
go in tho stage, an' they notify the
thieves. They are in with 'em an' have
a rvg'lar partnership. Astonishes you,
docs" it? Well, it'll surprise you still
more when I say I've even known the
been stopped a good many times an'
never when there wasn't somethm'
worth takin'."
" 'How do they stop yon?' Why, they
hail you in a dark place on the road an'
they never ask a man to come down oft
his box but once. Did I always come ?'
You bet. So would any man if he wasn't
a fool. hen a man sits up there a
target for maybe fifteen or twenty men,
lie can't fight much with four horses to
drive."
AN " AMt'SING " KOIlbEUV.
" The last time but one my stage was
robbed was amusin'. Thcr' was two
Jews inside who was agoin' to Dead
wood to open a jewelry store. These
last words with a peculiar unction, as
though he enjoyed tho joke. They hed
a nice lot o' things with 'em, an' ono on
'em hed a bunch of diamonds as big as
yer fist tied up in the comer of his shirt
tail. How the Jew did beg for them dia
monds! Tho thieves never stopped to
untie the knot in the shirt, but made
the Jew stand up, an' cut the hind part
of his shirt-tail off while ho cried an'
wiped his nose on tho front, an" both of
'cm begged like babies for the diamonds
an' 'chewelry.' But after they was safe,
how they did swear! Oh! my! It was
shockin'! But, really, I never did see
the stock of a jewelry store goin' off be
low cost so lively before!"
The enjoyment with which the man
from Deadwood reconnted this joke at
the expense of the Hebrews manifested.
regret to say, a prejuuice against mat
ed into me like the because I didn't
give 'cm a signal the night before so
they'd known what the Gov'ment agent
had. done. He said the boys was goin'
to bo on hand in my trip'through the
next night and were a-gom' to do for
me. Xow, I knowed he were a truthful
man about things of that kind: so I
went to the company's office an' drawed
my pay, an' said as how I reckoned I
didn't want to drive no more forfear my
health might suddenly give way. So
they engaged a young Dutchman from
Vermont nice feller he was, too, an' a
good driver to take the stage. I went
to him like a brother, an' says, ' Xow,
don't you take that stage out" to-night,
anyway, or you'll be sorry for it;' out,
of course, itwas'nt- no use. I've felt
sorry for him ever since, but he would
go, even when I told him that the boys
would take him for me. He might have
knowed."
" Did they hurt him, as thev threat
ened to do?" I asked, innocently.
" ell, I uon't Know if thev hurt him :
but you could have read that newspaper
through him when they found his body
in Dead Man's Canyon. I never did
see a body so full o' holes in my life."
worthy people akin to Judge Hilton's
" liut how uiu you como to give u
stage-driving?" I now ventured to as!
again, finding the man from Deadwood
in good humor.
A THRILLING INCIDKXT.
"Oh, yes ; I was forgcttin' that. Well,
yer sec, thcr' was a revinoo agent come
out to collect the Uov'ment taxes on
whisky, a few weeks ago. He got a lot
o' money in Deadwood, where every
other house is a s'loon, an' he left town
late one night in my stage with $10,000
on him. He sat on the box next to me,
carried the money on his person, an'
was as wide-awake an' game a fellow as
1 ever see. lie was armed with a m-
chester repeatin' rifl (with 10 barrels)
and two eight-chambered revolvers.
About midnight we was to go through
Dead Man's Canyon, several miles out
o' Deadwood, about the darkest, orncry
cst place as ever was, I reckon. I knew
if we was to bo, attacked it'd be there,
an' I told him so, an' that we was almost
certain to be stopped; but, Lord bless
you, he didn t show no more fear than
you do now, but there was a kind of de
termined loos in his eye, an' l coulil
tell he was layin' his plans, although he
never said a word. Directly we come
to the canyon a dark, rocky hell
hole, made by the devil for road
agents we listened with all our
cars. Suddenly we hcerd it, low
at first, then growin' louder rapidly. It
was the clickety-clack of ponies' hoofs
on the road behind us. I didn't need to
tell him what it meant. We knew thcr'
was a good many; that they were gain
in' on us fast, an' I knew that they
would attack the coach just as it was
sroin' slow ui the rise out of tho can
yon. Hold him this, when quick as
flash, ho jumped off an' called to me to
drive on an' wait for him when I got
out of the canyon. I saw his game in
a minit, and it was a bold one I reckon.
Ho hid behind a rock right in the road
an' got his weapons ready. I drove on
an' left him alone. The thieves fell in
to the trap. They rode on after tho
stage, thinkin' him in it, an' as they
passed close to where he was he opened
tire. What, with his sixtcen-shooter an'
his two revolvers an' their rcturnin' the
fire, it sounded tome like a whole reg
iment. I never knew whether he killed
any, but he wounded some sure, an' they
scattered like was after 'em, some
of them as was hurt howlin' like devils.
He just came up with the stage an' rode
on as cool as you please, lie was a
smart feller."
agents of the stace companies to help
J-OKT think von couonebs. rob the Imx. It's an extensive conspir-
" Murders? Oh, yes, there's plenty acy, an' I could point out a dozen men
o' them, but they don't call 'em that, on" tho streets of Deadwood any day.
At least three a day on an average; walkin' about as sassy as you please, who
some fellow gets Jhe. worst of an argy-1 probably robbed the" stage tho night bc
ment an' is laid out. It's putty dull in I fore. The thieves are always posted
townthem days when some body don't I an' never make a mistake an' stop a
getKineu. An' tncy tio nave the queer- stage without money in the box. I've I
A THREAT THAT 3IEANT SOMETHING.
" Xow, the next day, on my return
trip, I noticed that one of the stage
company's agents at a relay station we
changed bosses every twelve mile had
his arm in a sling, an' when I got back
to Deadwood I heerd of several of the
fust citizens as was suddenly laid up. I
says to the agent, 'What's the matter?'
'Why,' says he, kinder careless, 'a
dog "bit me last night!' 'Yes,' said I,
'these Gov'ment dogs do bite putty hard
sometimes, don't they?' Well he pitch-
VE6ETINE
WILL CURE-
SCROFULA,
Scrofulous Humor.
VEGETIXE will eradicate from the syitem fTery
taint of Scrofula and Scrofulous 11 amor, Ir has per
manently cared thouan1 la Iloton anl vicinity who
bad be-n long Qi painful offerer.
Cancer. Cancerous Humor.
The marvellous effect of VEGETIXE in case of
Cancer and Cancerous Hnmcr challenges the most
profound attention of the medical faculty, maar of
homarenrccrlblcr VEGETINEtoifcetr patteuti.
Canker.'
VTGETINEhM Hirer filled to cure ti-mxUn
Cexlble cue of caaker.
Mercurial Diseases.
TneVECETIXK meti with wonderful iacce$a In
the cure of this class of dkea-ca.
Salt Rheum.
Tetter. S!t Rheum. Seld IIed. etc ! -erti1nlr
Jicld la the grew lteraUre eOecu of VEGETIXE.
Erysipelas.
VEGETIXE has never failed to cure the most invet
erate case of Erysipelas.
Pimples and Humors on the
Face.
Ueason shonM teach ns that a blotchy, rocsh or
citr riled sWn defends entlrelrimonantrterralina
and no out ard application can ever cure the defect.
VEUET1NE la the great blood ruriaer.
Tumors, Ulcers or Old Sores
Are caused by an Impure state of the blood. Cleanse
the blood thorunzhly with Vt(JLTIE. aad theae
complaints will disappear.
Catarrh.
For this complaint the only tabrantlal benefit ra
be obtained thronsh the blood. VhGETlNi: la the
great blood partner.
Constipation.
VEGETIXE does not act as a cathartic to debilitate
the bowel, but cleanses all the organs, enabling each
to perform the functions devolving upoa them.
Piles.
VEGETIXE bis restored thousands to bilti who
taie been lone and painful sufferers.
Dyspepsia.
It VEGETIXE Is taken regularly, aceordinc to di
rections, a certain and speedy cure will follow it use.
Faintness at the Stomach.
VEGETIXE Is not a stlmnlatln? btCers which
creates a fictitious appetite, bat a pestle tonic, which
astUts nature to restore thestotuacn to a healthy ac
tion. Female Weakness.
VEGETIXE acts directly upon the causes of these
complaints. It Invigorates and Krentbens the whole
system, acta upon the secretive organs and allays In
fiammatlou. General Debility.
In this complaint the eood effects of the VEGE
TI J E are realized immediately after commencing tu
takett: a debility denotes deficiency of the blood,
and VhGhTI.NK acts directly upoa the blood.
VEGETINE
rrxpAiiED dv
H. R. STEA'EXS. Boston, Mass.
Vegetine is Sold by All Druggists.